What is the WMIC command, and how can I use it?

Question

Someone on an IRC network was asking for the CMD command to "index a folder". Turned out he meant the "TREE" command.

Anyway, while looking over the list of existing commands, I noticed something called WMIC. I've checked it on Wikipedia, but the explanation isn't really telling me what my options are with this.

When I enter the command, the prompt changes to wmic:root\cli>
It seems I can also enter it in the search-bar and press enter, a separate console will appear.

I tried getting help by typing /? like in CMD, but the list was kinda long, so I decided to come and ask, before I burn my fingers playing with fire.

Answer 1

WMIC is the command line for Windows Management Instrumentation, it allows you to manage certain components of Windows from the command line. It will not have the same commands as command prompt, but it can be used to get and set all sorts of information regarding the operating system and hardware.

for example, get the CPUs current max clock speed:

wmic:root\cli>cpu get maxclockspeed
MaxClockSpeed
3594

You may be interested in Technet's great article on WMIC.